Moving target generating device



P81). 16, 1954 F. w. BROWN MOVING TARGET GENERATING DEVICE Filed Nov. 19, 1952 ELECTRONIC UNIT X-POSITION Y-POSITION RADAR INDICATOR INVENTOR. FORREST W. BROWN 5% V5. 11 AGENT Patented Feb. 16, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE to The Reflectone Corporation,

Stamford,

Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application November 19, 1952, Serial No. 321,487

6 Claims. (Cl. 35-10.4)

This invention relates to analog computing devices and synthetic training simulating equipjment and has particular reference to target course generators which generate and simulate .of which with respect to a Cartesian coordinate system, represents the course of a moving target. The problem presented therefore concerns the method of resolving an input motion into two mutually normal resultant vector motions representing the sine and cosine functions of the input.

The prior art discloses several methods by which this can be achieved. Several of the machines presently employed require the use of intricate mechanical integrators and difierentials which are rather expensive, cumbersome and which are burdened with a great deal of mechanical precision. Devices of this type are rather unwieldy and demand a great deal of skill not only in the manufacture but also during operation and maintenance in the field.

The present device uses a minimum of mechanical elements and employs far less complicated components, namely switches and motors which are simple to operate and to maintain.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide an improved target generating device which avoids complicated mechanical devices.

Another object of this invention is to provide a simplified arrangement using a plurality of motors operating at a substantially constant speed together with inexpensive switching means.

Another object of this invention is to provide an arrangement which can be assembled and maintained with a minimum of precision and skill.

Another object of this invention is to provide a radar target course generating device in which the resultant outputs of the input vector appear as incremental movements of bidirectional mtors.

The invention comprises a moving target genv crating device in which a repetitive intermittent 1 switching means is coupled to a first driving 'switching of the first double circuit switching means with respect to the second double circuit switching means.

With reference to the accompanying drawing, a substantially constant speed motor I0 such as a clock motor drives a commutator II. A stationary brush I2 and an adjustable brush I3 coact with commutator I I to provide intermittent closing and opening of an electrical circuit supplying energy to a second constant speed motor I4. A shaft l5 of motor [4 drives a suitable gear train (not shown) which in turn drives shafts I6 and IT. A commutator I8 is secured to shaft I6 and a commutator I9 is secured to shaft ll. These commutators including commutator II mentioned above comprise two segments 20 and 2i which are mounted in a manner insulated from one another. Coacting with commutator I8 are two stationary brushes 22 and 23 disposed about the circumference of the commutator in a position 180 degrees apart. In a similar manner two stationary brushes 24 and 25 are mounted 180 degrees apart on commutator l9. An adjustable brush 26 fastened to gear 21 by pin 28 may be positioned about the circumference of commutator I8 and in analogous fashion an adjustable brush 29 fastened to gear 30 by pin 1 may be positioned about the circumference of commutator I9. Gears 2! and 30 are concentric with shafts I6 and I! respectively but are rotatable independently of the commutators. They serve as brush rigging for the adjustable brushes 26 and 29 respectively.

A wheel 32 rotatable about axis 33 has mounted on its face two pins 34 and 35 which are 90 degrees angularly disposed with respect to one another. This wheel 32 may be supported for rotation by means of three wheels engaging its periphery. Pin 34 is confined in the slot 36 of a slotted bar 31 and pin 35 is confined for sliding movement in slot 38 of slotted bar 39. Bar 31 is connected to rack which engages gear 30. Bar 39 is connected to rack 4! which engages gear 21. When rotating wheel 32 about its center 33, pins 34 and 35 will move up and down in slots 36 and 38 respectively. This motion is transferred to racks 40- and 4| respectively which position adjustable brushes 26 and 29 respectively about the circumference of the commutators I8 and I9 respectively. This mechanism comprising a wheel, two pins degrees spaced, slotted bars and racks, shown here in a schematic fashion, is commonly referred to as a Scotch-yoke mechanism and belongs to the class of sine-cosine resolving mechanism. Moving for instance pin 34 to the uppermost position, adjustable brush 29 fastened to gear 30 by virtue of pin 3| will move to the bottom center position of commutator assembly I9. At the time when this occurs, pin 35 will occupy a position 90 degrees from pin 3t, be-

ing located on the left side of the horizontal axis 'respectivel y.

to turn at substantially constant speed. "same time that the switch '52 is closed the source :of electrical energy is also applied to motor l4 via brush E3, conductors 55 and=56.

180 degree are on the respective commuator. v The adjustable brush position is "determinedbythe 90 degrees spaced apart pins which are alwaysin a sine-cosine relationship whichres'ultsathat theadjustable brushes are also in a sine-.cosinezreiationship with respect to oneanothenalong their 180 degrees excursion.

Numerals 42 and 43 represent bidirectionalmo: tors, each motor liaving=itwo selectively energizablefield coils 42a and A21), 43a andctb respectively, the energizing of whichwdetermines the direction of rotation-of motor shafts it Land-35 Motor shaft it -is coupled to a translating means which translates mechanical shaft rotation to'anelectrica-l signal, as for instance a multi-turn potentiometer. In a similar manner shaft 55 is coupled to a corresponding translating means ll. Both translating means electronic unit '5? which converts the electrical signals received to proper information for suitable representation on a radar indicator 55.

The operation of this device may be visualized as follows:

Upon closing switch 52 motor it becomes energized from a source of alternating current via conductors 53 and E i which will cause the motor At the conductors E i and '5, and viaconductor 53a, stationary brush l2. commutator H, adjustable It will be recalled that commutator H comprises two segments mounted insulated from one another and it will be observed therefore that when bringing adjustable brush it in superposed relation with sta- =tionary'brush 52, motor M will be energized the entire time except for the time that the insulation passes; while when moving adjustable brush (it away from stationary brush 12. motor: I i will be energized for shorter and shorter intervals with zero speed taking place when brush i3 is displaced 180 degrees with respect to brush l2. The motor M therefore will operate intermittently with the ratio of energizing and deenergizing, this ratio commonly called duty cycle, being determined by the position of adjustable brush 43. Hence the rotation of shaft l5 of motor 14 when integrated with respect to time may'be'considered a quantityproportional to the speed vector ds/dt of the target which is to be simulated.

' Motor shaft id as described above will rotate commutators l8 and i 5 so that these commutators operate at a speed proportional to the speed vector of the target which is to be simulated. On terminal each of the motor coils 42a, 42b, "tea, and 43b is connected together by means of conductor 6- 5. This conductor, via conductors 53' and 5 5, is connected to one side of the powe supply. Coil 42a is connected via conductor 59 to stationary brush 2? whereas coil 4% is connected via conductor 6G to the .opposed stationary brush 23. In a similar manner stationary brush 2% of commutator I9 is connected via conductor 62 .to. coil 43!) and stationary brush 25 via conductor 5| to coil 43a. The adjustable brushesZG and. 2,9 are interconnected bymeans o-..conductor 58. which is joined to conductor 56 and is energized from commutator ll via conductor 55.

v When the wheel 32,.which atithei ame time serves as course adjustingmechanism is set in the position shown, it will be apparent that mo- .z tor coil 42a is energized by virtue of brushes 22,

26 and the commutator segment. In a similar I mannerthe'commutator segment of commutator IE causes motor coil 43a to be energized. As :the commutators l8 and i9 rotate in synchronism driven by motor shaft l5, coils $200 and 43a are energized first, followed by motor coils 42b and 431); Because of the location of the adjustable brushes about the commutator periphery the energizing of each motor coil is unequal with respecttotime thus causing anincrementalrotation of shafts M and 45 respectively.

When rotating-pin 34 to its uppermost position as explained before, adjustable brush .29 of commutator l9 moves to the lowermost position thereby causing stationary brushes 25 and25 to become energized for equal amounts of time resulting in zero integrated rotation of shaft 45 becausethe forwardand reverse rotations of motor J43 are equal.

In this particular position of brushZil, pin 35 is rotated counter-clockwise to the horizontalplane through center thereby causing brush- :26..to become superposed on brush 22. This positionin turn causes almost continuous energizing of motor coil 42a which is connected to brush 22. It is apparent therefore that the course 'wheel 32 in the position as shown in the figure willxrepresent a 45 degree target course whereas inthe latter position motion is along a single axis representing a course at one of the cardinal pointed the compass. In such a manner the input speed vector is resolved in two outputs, the instantaneous X-. and Y-positions respectively which represent the mutually normal components of the input vector.

The incremental motion of shaft 44 which is transmitted to a translating device 46. may be called the X-position of a movingtarget whereas the incrementalmotion of shaft 45 coupled to translating device ll may be considered "the Y-position. It is obvious that the X- and Y-position nomenclature may be. reversed which .will amount to a reorientation of the compass axes. The electronic unit transforms thesignalsreceived from translating devices it: and 4'5 to proper pulse shape for representation" on theconventional radar indicator identified by numeral 5|.

Commutators i8 and it together with associated brushes constitute double circuit switching meansenergizing sequentially two separate circuits to cause the incremental shaft *rotati'onof the motors as described. tis obviousthat by rotating wheel 32 the course of the target 'to-be simulated is changed inasmuch as that there will be a change of the resultant integrated incremental motions of shafts 44 and-d5 with respect to one another.

Commutators l8 and i9 are driven from motor M at the rate determined by the-position of brushes I2 and I3 on the commutator! I. As it is important that motors and d3 notonlydollow this intermittent cycling but since it "must be assured also that each bidirectional-motor after having been stopped and-re-energ-izedcompletes the cycle already start'ed,-because otherwise an error would-be added to the new resultant incremental motion, adjustable brushes Hand 23 areconnected'in series with theunterinittept cycling caus d. by ommutator! S ll" iur h r,

it is apparent that motors l2 and 43 must operate with equal speed in either direction of rotation as merely the time and not the speed of rotation is varied by the brush arrangement about commutator i8 and i9. Although various types of motors may be used, it has been found that small size reversible clock motor give satisfactory results.

While there have been described and illustrated specific embodiments of the invention, it will be obvious that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the field of the invention which should be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A moving target generating device comprising a first driving means, a repetitive intermittent switching means coupled to said driving means, a second driving means controlled by said intermittent switching means, said second driving means coupled to a first and to a second double circuit switching means, a first bidirectional driving means controlled by said first double circuit switching means and a second bidirectional driving means controlled by said second double circuit switching means and means to control the circuit switching of said first double circuit switching means with respect to said second double circuit switching means.

2. A moving target generating device comprising a first driving means, a cyclically operating intermittent switching means having a variable duty cycle driven by said first driving means, a second driving means controlled by said intermittent switching means, a first and a second double circuit switching means driven by said second driving means, a first and a second bidirectional driving means controlled by said first and by said second double circuit switching means respectively and means acting upon said pair of double circuit switching means to influence the rotational direction of said first bidirectional driving means with respect to said second bidirectional driving means.

3. A moving target generating device comprising a first motor operating at a substantially constant peed, an intermittent switching means having an adjustable duty cycle driven by said first motor, a second constant speed motor intermittently energized by said intermittent switching means, a first and a second double circuit switching means driven by said second motor, each of said double circuit switching means adapted to sequentially energize two circuits, a first and a second bidirectional motor controlled by said first and said second double circuit switching means respectively and connected thereto to become sequentially energized for motion in forward and reverse direction and means acting upon said pair of double circuit switching means for influencing the time of forward and reverse directional operation of said first and of said second bidirectional motor with respect to one another.

4. A moving target generating device comprising a first motor operating at a substantially constant speed, an intermittent switching means driven by said first motor and having a manually adjustable duty cycle, a second motor intermittently operated by said intermittent switching means, a first and a second double circuit switching means driven by said second motor, each of said double circuit switching means adapted to alternately energize two circuits in sequence, a

first and a second bidirectional motor controlled by said first and said second double circuit switching means respectively and also by said in" termittent switching means to cause cyclic rotation of said bidirectional motors in a forward and in a reverse direction, and means acting upon said double circuit switching means to influence the resultant incremental rotations of said bidirectional motors with respect to one another.

5. A moving target generating device comprising a first motor operating at a substantially constant speed, an intermittent switching means driven by said first motor and having an adjustable duty cycle, a second motor intermittently operated by said intermittent switching means, a first and a second double circuit switching means driven by said second motor, each of said double circuit switching means adapted to cyclically energize two circuits in sequence and provided also with means to vary the period wherein one circuit is energized with respect to the other, a first and a second bidirectional motor controlled by said first and said second double circuit switching means respectively and also by said intermittent switching means to cause cyclic rotation of said bidirectional motors in a forward and in a reverse direction, and component solving means acting upon said double circuit switching means to cause the resultant incremental rotations of said bidirectional motors to constitute mutually normal vector motions.

6. A moving target generating device comprising a first motor operating at a substantially constant speed, an intermittent switching means driven by said first motor and having a manually adjustable duty cycle, a second motor operated by said intermittent switching means causing the integrated speed of said second motor to represent a quantity proportional to the speed of the moving target, a first and a second double circuit switching means driven by said second motor, each of said double circuit switching means adapted to cyclically energize two circuits in sequence, each of said circuit switching means including a rotatable commutator with a plurality of brushes wherein at least one of said brushes is angularly adjustable about said commutator to vary the circular distance thereof with respect to the remaining brushes thereby causing an adjustable period wherein an electrical circuit is energized, a first and a second bidirectional motor controlled by said first and by said second double circuit switching means respectively and also by said intermittent switching means to effect intermittent cyclic rotation of said bidirectional motors in a forward and in a reverse direction thereby causing a resultant incremental rotation of each of said bidirectional motors, and adjustable component solving means acting upon said adjustable brushes of said double circuit switching means to cause said resultant incremental rotations to constitute the mutually normal vector motions of the course angle of said target as determined by said adjustable component solving means.

FORREST W, BROWN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,345,744 Glenny Apr. 4, 1944 2,531,400 Clarkson, Jr. Nov. 28, 1950 2,603,883 Donahue July 22, 1952 

